


Something Real

by autumnstar



Series: In the Half-Light [2]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-12
Packaged: 2019-01-16 14:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12344430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnstar/pseuds/autumnstar
Summary: Chloe can't keep pretending she didn't overhear Lucifer and Amenadiel talking. She has to know if her partner is okay.(Vaguely set around 3x02)





	Something Real

Over a week had gone by and neither of them had mentioned her turning up drunk at his penthouse. Nor had they talked about how they'd woken up with his arms around her, and her cheek using his bare chest as a pillow.

It almost felt like things were getting back to normal. Almost. Chloe still felt worry gnawing away at her whenever she thought about the things Amenadiel had said, and she couldn't shake the image of Lucifer sitting broken and dejected at his piano from her mind. She tried to lessen the worry she felt by reminding herself that he made regular visits to Linda. Chloe trusted the doctor, her friend, to take care of whatever it was Lucifer was going through and doing to himself. She really did. So why wasn't that thought doing anything to alleviate her worry for her partner?

They were spending another late night together, but this time under very different circumstances. Chloe wasn't drunk, for one, and they were sat alone in her car at the docks, waiting for their suspect to show. If he ever did. Lucifer was oddly silent beside her, other than him shuffling around to get comfortable, or the odd sigh because he hated waiting and he wanted to remind her of that.

“Comfy?” She asked, doing nothing to hide her amusement.

"There isn’t enough legroom to get comfy, Detective," Lucifer grumbled, breaking his silence. "Maybe we should move into the back seat?"

"Yeah, that’s not gonna happen," Chloe muttered back, and did a terrible job of hiding her smile. He may have found it boring, just staring at a locked warehouse, but she was glad he was there with her.

She turned to look at him, and caught him staring out of the passenger window, lost again in his own thoughts. Even after the moment she'd been allowed a glimpse into his personal life, and the relationship he had with his brother, Chloe didn't think she'd ever understand what went on in her partner's head. What could he possibly be thinking about? She knew it wasn't the case. Lucifer hadn't seemed particularly interested until she'd asked him to go on that stakeout with her. He'd agreed quickly, but Chloe couldn't see why when he found it so boring. Maybe it was because he didn’t want her working alone, or because he didn’t want her working with the Lieutenant.

"See something you like, Detective?" His low voice brought Chloe back from her own wandering thoughts, and she realised she'd been staring. Lucifer turned to her with a playful smile, because of course he'd caught her and wouldn't just let it drop.

"I was just thinking," Chloe answered a little too quickly, and was thankful for how dark the car was. There were a few lights dotted along the docks, and the moon was shining bright overhead, but none of them were really enough to illuminate the inside of the car. Her blush was safely hidden.

"What were you thinking about?" At any other time, she would have thought that was an invitation of his to share some weird, illicit desire - especially after he'd just teased her for staring - but Lucifer sounded different. His tone was suddenly softer, more mindful, and when she looked back at him and saw the open look on his face, Chloe realised he actually wanted to know.

"Oh, it’s just... the case," she half-shrugged, and then prepared herself for his inevitable reaction to what she said next. He appreciated the truth, after all, even if he took it the wrong way. "And you."

"Really?" He purred, his smile splitting into a bright grin. "So you did see something you like."

"You were very quiet," Chloe went on, smiling despite herself but choosing to ignore his teasing. "I just thought you might... Are you okay?" There. She'd finally asked it; the question she'd been wanting to ask him since overhearing him with Amenadiel.

Lucifer's smile wavered a little, and Chloe was no longer thankful for the poor lighting. She wanted to see his reaction properly. She wanted to catch every little quirk of his lips, or the flash in his eyes of the emotions he was trying to hide. In the dark, with only a sliver of light outlining his face, all that really stood out was that bright smile of his as it faded, and just a faint twinkle of his eyes watching her.

"I’m fine," he assured her, and turned back to the warehouse ahead of them. She knew he wouldn't lie to her, Chloe tried to remind herself of that often, but that didn't mean he didn't lie to himself. The way he'd answered her, the suddenly bland tone to his voice, told her he was anything but alright. She wasn't going to let him back away from her now.

"You know you can tell me if you're not," Chloe promised, and reached out to place her hand over what she hoped was his arm. That got his attention, even if her words didn’t. Lucifer looked down at her hand, her pale skin clear in the moonlight, and he rested his own hand over the top of it. She looked back up at him, and felt his thumb brushing against the back of her hand. It brought back a sleep-clouded memory of them in bed together, when he’d wrapped his arms around her and drew patterns on her forearm with his fingertips.

“Lucifer,” she whispered, trying to get him to talk. Amenadiel’s plea for his brother to stop hurting himself rang in her head. For the first time, as she sat in that car with him and saw the way he stared down at their hands, she could picture him as a little brother. His own brother had tried to protect him, and now it was his partner’s turn.

“Please talk to me,” Chloe asked softly, giving his arm a light squeeze.

“What do you want me to say?” His voice sounded even quieter than her own, it almost made her smile again. There was no need for either of them to whisper when they were alone.

“Anything that’s on your mind,” she encouraged. “I know you’re not okay. If you wanna tell me something, whatever it is that’s hurting you, you can tell me.”

Lucifer stared at her for a moment, and Chloe held her breath and hoped that he would finally open up to her. But, of course, her partner never did what she thought he’d do.

“Is this about the other night?” He asked, thumb stilling over her hand. She had to remember how to breath again. She’d been so certain Lucifer hadn’t known she’d been awake. Why hadn’t he said anything until now?

“You know?” Chloe asked tentatively.

“Of course I know,” Lucifer frowned slightly and took his hand away, holding it up as if to placate her. “I assure you, Detective, nothing happened.” _Oh_ , he was on a completely different page to where she thought he was going with that. He must have thought she’d been worrying about the way they’d woken up embracing one another half-naked.

“Lucifer, I know,” Chloe sighed. “I wasn’t talking about that.” Although that was something else they needed to talk about. Falling asleep like that wasn’t something ‘ _just friends_ ’ normally did. Chloe was torn over whether or not she should actually tell him what she had been talking about. Would he feel betrayed somehow that she’d listened in? Would he consider pretending to be asleep a lie?

Taking a deep breath, she kept her hand firmly over his arm, hoping he wouldn’t try to run away from her. There was no going back, and she had to tell Lucifer the truth.

“I might have… overheard you and Amenadiel talking.” Chloe made herself say, and for a brief moment Lucifer just stared at her. She wondered if he hadn’t heard her, until he huffed a soundless laugh and looked back out of the window. He didn’t seem mad, but he didn’t seem to be happy, either. Chloe guessed he was trying to hide how he really felt.

“Well, that’s nothing to worry about.” Lucifer smiled. “Amenadiel’s always been a tad dramatic.”

“It’s not just about what Amenadiel said.”  _God_ , how could she get through to him? “You seemed--” Chloe bit back the threat of tears and shook her head. “You were _really_ upset, Lucifer. I’m worried about you.”

"Chloe..." She willed herself not to cry, not even in front of Lucifer, but as soon as he said her name she felt her tears fall. He'd sounded so worried about her, like she was the one that needed to be comforted.

 _This isn't how this conversation was supposed to go_ , Chloe thought. It was meant to be her supporting him, not the other way around. Lucifer didn’t seem to agree. The moment he saw that she was crying, her partner leaned across and wrapped his arms around her. He moved awkwardly, as though he didn’t really know if she’d want him to hold her or not, but Chloe let him pull her closer. She closed her eyes, tucking her head under his chin, and felt his hand slowly pat her on the back. That made her smile return.

“I spoke with Linda,” he told her, and Chloe felt the depth of his voice vibrating in his chest. She stayed quiet, hoping he’d carry on speaking, and wrapped her arms around his waist. “We agreed,” Lucifer went on, “No more severed angel wings. For now.”

Chloe frowned. “What?”

“It means you have nothing to worry about, Detective.” He sounded as if he was trying to reassure her, but Chloe was positive there was an underlying uncertainty to Lucifer’s voice. Like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was her. Opening her eyes, she was about to press him for a more specific answer, when she saw a car pull up outside the warehouse.

“He’s here,” Chloe found herself saying, and immediately regretted it. She didn’t want their moment to end. Too many times now, her and Lucifer had come close to _something,_ and at the first distraction Lucifer pulled away and retreated back into himself.

She thought about the last time he’d held her, in his bed, and the moment they’d shared in that same penthouse, before Lucifer started to withdraw from her. Now Chloe felt as if he’d completely forgotten that spark, or the fact that they’d kissed. It was in little moments like this, on a stakeout of all things, when she caught a glimpse of the man she’d shared those moments with.

Lucifer pulled away from her slowly, and as she began to feel cold at the lost contact, Chloe wondered if he was just as reluctant to end their embrace as she was.

Trying her best not to think about that, or anything else, Chloe took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. She reached for the door handle, keeping her gaze ahead on their suspect and firmly away from Lucifer, when she felt him lightly touch her arm.

“Just a moment, Detective,” he said, and Chloe turned to look back at him. With far more care than was really necessary, Lucifer put his fingers under her chin and tilted her head back. She wondered if he could hear her heart pounding in her chest, or if he noticed her breath hitch. For just a second, Chloe thought he was going to kiss her, and as always Lucifer didn’t do what she expected him to do.

Instead, with exaggerated concentration, her partner dabbed at her cheeks with the red silk pocket square from his suit. It may not have been what she’d expected, but it was still sweet and Chloe met his eyes with a small smile. _There_ was the man she’d fallen for.

“There,” Lucifer smiled back and took his hands away, folding the fabric back up. “Now, let’s go catch our bad guy.”

**Author's Note:**

> I never really intended to do a second part for this, but quite a few people asked for one. I've been under the weather this past week, so I'm sorry for not getting back to any comments. They all meant a lot though, and I really wanted to keep writing since so many of you enjoyed the last one.  
> Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the second part too!


End file.
